NUR 665: the final FNP practicum
NUR 665 Family Primary Health Care Practicum III closes Northern Arizona University's FNP sequence with 300 clinical hours in spring, focused on crisis intervention, chronic illness and complex conditions for the family unit across the life span. By its last week your record needs to show all 780 hours, the recommended age mix and the minimum visit counts, so plan it around whatever the first two practicums left undone.
Finish strong in NUR 665
Tell us what your first two practicums covered. We find a spring preceptor who fills the gaps.
NUR 665 in brief
The catalog frames the last practicum around crisis intervention, chronic illness and complex health conditions, and it names the family unit rather than the individual patient. A practice that sees several generations of the same households, and handles hard cases rather than referring them all out, suits that description well.
Arriving in spring, you already hold 480 hours from the first two practicums, and NUR 665 supplies the remaining 300. Its companion course, NUR 664, runs alongside it, so clinical and theory work share this last term.
| Item | What NAU lists |
|---|---|
| Full title | Family Primary Health Care Practicum III |
| Hours | 300 clinical hours, the last of the 780 |
| Units | 5 in the catalog (the AY 21-22 graduate handbook showed 3) |
| Term | Spring |
| Taken with | NUR 664 (corequisite) |
| Requires | NUR 662 and NUR 663 |
The October paperwork and the gap before January
Your spring request goes in while NUR 663 is still running. NAU's 2022-23 Green Form lists October 31 for spring (the 2021-22 form said before October 1), and the Green Form guide covers what it asks.
The document clock is close behind. Spring 2027 starts Jan. 11 and Spring 2028 starts Jan. 10, so the two-month rule puts every clinical document on file around Nov. 10 or 11, in the busiest weeks of your fall practicum. The document deadline guide lists what has to be current.
A new site needs extra care in this window. An affiliation agreement started in October has to clear before a January start, with the year-end holidays in between, and NAU's guidelines keep clinical out of university breaks unless the FNP Program Coordinator approves it beforehand.
For a January start, clinical documents are due around mid-November, about ten days after the October 31 Green Form date. Both fall inside NUR 663, so file spring paperwork before fall gets heavy.
Spring's math, counted in clinic days
Spring 2027 runs Jan. 11 to May 7, with spring break March 15 to 19 and finals from May 3. That is 85 weekdays, or about 80 once spring break comes out, before subtracting any university holidays. Counting days rather than weekly hours makes it easier to agree a schedule with a preceptor.
| Shift length | Days needed | Share of about 80 weekdays |
|---|---|---|
| 8 hours | 38 | Nearly half |
| 10 hours | 30 | About three in eight |
| 12 hours | 25 | Under a third |
Weekend and holiday shifts need the FNP Program Coordinator's prior approval, so these days come from the weekday calendar. Leave slack for the end of term: a preceptor's absence in late April leaves little time to recover before the semester closes.
Closing out the whole program
NUR 665 is where the program totals are settled, so check them early in the term, not in May. By the end, your record should show:
- 780 clinical hours across the three practicums, 180, 300 and 300
- At least 500 of them as faculty-supervised practice in the family population focus
- The pediatric, adult, women's health and specialty time in the recommended hour mix
- The minimum visit counts in the 2022-23 guidelines, such as 5 pelvic and 5 prostate exams
- Your preceptor's evaluation, completed online in the tracking system (Typhon or Exxat, depending on your cohort)
- Health and credential documents kept current through the final day
If summer and fall left you light on children or women's health, spring is the last chance to fix it, so choose a site that fills the gap rather than repeating the one you know.
Graduation, and what comes after
Spring 2027 degrees are conferred May 7, with commencement May 7 and 8; in 2028 the term ends May 5, with commencement May 5 and 6. NAU's MS Advanced Practice page says graduates are eligible to apply for national certification, for state certification in Arizona and for prescribing and dispensing privileges in Arizona.
Arizona certifies registered nurse practitioners who hold an RN license (Arizona or multistate), a graduate nursing degree, a completed APRN program and national certification; the Board recognizes the AANP and ANCC family NP credentials. The Arizona practice guide covers what full practice means there.
Prescribing is a separate application. Arizona asks for at least 45 contact hours of pharmacology or drug-therapy education in the three years before you apply, and a DEA registration on file with the Board before you prescribe any controlled substance.
How we help you finish
For NUR 665, your placement advisor starts from your record: which ages, visit types and exams the first two practicums covered, and what is still missing. We then look for a spring preceptor near home whose patient panel closes those gaps, check them against R4-19-502 as NAU applies it, and assemble the CV, license, certification and site approval in time for the October 31 date. We also agree the spring schedule with the preceptor up front, around spring break, so the 300 hours are booked into real clinic days from week one.
If the right site has no NAU agreement, you hear about it in September, not December. And if a preceptor leaves partway through spring, we go after a replacement immediately, because the last practicum has no next term to absorb a lost month.
Questions NAU students ask
What if my NUR 665 hours are not finished when spring ends?
NAU's archived guidelines set no rule for this, and the AY 21-22 graduate handbook says incompletes follow Graduate College policy. Talk to course faculty as soon as a shortfall looks likely, since options narrow near the end of term. The behind on clinical hours and delayed graduation guides cover recovery plans.
Can I start NUR 665 hours in December?
Not on your own schedule. NAU's 2022-23 guidelines have you wait for NAU's notice before starting, and clinical during university breaks needs the FNP Program Coordinator's approval in advance. If a preceptor offers December days, ask the coordinator in writing first, since the guidelines allow break-time clinical only with that approval.
Who evaluates me at the end of NUR 665?
Your preceptor completes an evaluation of you online, in Typhon under the 2022-23 guidelines, while course faculty oversee the practicum and assign the grade. The graduate handbook sets 84% as the pass mark for FNP courses. Ask faculty early how the preceptor's evaluation weighs into that grade.
Can NUR 665 be done in a specialty clinic?
Part of it, possibly. The recommended split leaves 75 to 150 hours for specialty time across the program, and every preceptor must practice in a population focus comparable to family practice. A family practice as your main site with a short specialty block is the safer plan; the FNP Program Coordinator makes the call.
Do I file a new Green Form for NUR 665 if my preceptor stays the same?
The archived guidelines tie Green Form dates to each target semester but do not say whether a continuing preceptor needs a fresh form. Ask the Clinical Placement Coordinator well before October 31, so the answer arrives while there is still time to file.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Northern Arizona University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your program coordinator and course faculty have the final word.
- Northern Arizona University, MS Nursing, Advanced Practice program page
- Northern Arizona University, FNP Clinical Guidelines AY 2022-23 (archived copy)
- Northern Arizona University, FNP Clinical Guidelines AY 2021-22 (archived copy)
- Northern Arizona University Academic Catalog 2026-27, MS Nursing, Advanced Practice (archived copy)
- Northern Arizona University, ABOR-approved term dates
NAU welcomes a preceptor you arrange. We arrange one close to home.
Tell us your NAU track, your town and your next practicum. We line up preceptors who fit the course and Arizona's preceptor rule, confirm the site's approval, and gather the CV, license and certification the Green Form needs, well before NAU's cutoff.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages family primary care for FNP, psychiatric settings for PMHNP
- License, experience and certification checked against the rule NAU applies, before the Green Form goes in
- All three FNP practicums planned together, near home instead of a long drive away
Start your placement plan
Track, town and next practicum is all we need to begin.